A Week in Washington
by fergkat
Summary: An explanation for why Jack wasn't in The Road Not Taken. Set during Bad Guys. SJ.


A Week in Washington

Season: 10

Spoilers: Line in the Sand, The Road Not Taken, The Shroud, Bounty, Bad Guys.

Genre: Romance. A little hurt/comfort/angst. SJ.

Warnings: Mention of major character death, vague hints of adult themes.

Disclaimer: No, it's not really mine. I just pretend.

Notes: I've only read one fic that deals with that period of time in Bad Guys where Sam is in Washington. It just has so much shippy potential. I actually think it rambles, but then I never like anything I write.

--

Sam was excited. The President thought it necessary for her to come to Washington to discuss the ramifications of revealing the Stargate Program to the public. The meeting was scheduled for Monday, so she could catch a flight on Friday evening and spend the whole weekend with Jack!

They'd been so busy lately, he with meetings and bureaucratic red tape, she with recovering from that Ori staff blast while working frantically on all the aspects of Merlin's phase technology that she was allowed to with her injury. Then there was the whole parallel universe problem. Though he did come to the SGC for the return of priorised Daniel, they hadn't managed to catch much alone time. Then they'd hoped he could fly in to see her at that conference she was at the other week, but the bounty hunter situation totally blew that out of the water. It had been way too many weeks since they'd seen each other properly. They just couldn't catch a break.

Hence the reason she was now grinning like a maniac and practically skipping in the halls of the SGC. It was Friday afternoon, and almost time for her to finish for the day. She was leaving straight from the SGC. She hurried towards the locker room to get changed.

--

Sam stared out the window of the plane. She couldn't wait to see Jack, but a tiny part of her was dreading it. He knew she was upset about her experience in the alternate SGC. He had asked her about it, but they'd decided that the discussion was better done face to face. Jack could read her well enough to know that she was uneasy about his fate in the parallel universe. It was due to their complicated schedules that they hadn't had a chance to talk about it. But they would have to in order to properly enjoy their weekend together.

She didn't want to tell him, even though he'd take it a hell of a lot better than she had. She didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of this. He'd doubtlessly brush it off. The Jack O'Neill in that parallel universe wasn't her Jack. She'd never met him. But the thought that what happened in that universe could have happened in hers chilled her. She couldn't imagine living without Jack.

She forced her thoughts back. There was no point in dwelling, as Jack often said. She thought about SG1's next mission instead, which for once was just standard recon, instead of chasing Priors and Ori armies across the galaxy. Cam had seemed really excited about it and with Daniel back again even Sam was looking forward to it. She allowed her thoughts to wander as she slowly dozed off.

--

Jack was waiting for her at the airport. Sam caught his eye and smiled as she made her way over to him, halting close in front of him and dropping her bag next to them. They stood there for a moment, in silence, staring into each other's eyes without moving. Then Sam moved into his arms and they held each other close, revelling in the feel of each other after so long. Jack pressed his face into her neck, and placed a light kiss on her skin. They held on for several long moments, then Jack released her and grabbed up her bag as they made their way towards the exit.

Once they reached their house and the door was closed behind them, Jack dropped the bag and caught Sam up in his arms. While happy to be affectionate in private, both disliked excessive public displays and after so long apart, both were more than willing to show their love.

They kissed passionately, holding each other tight, hands running over each other. Jack pressed Sam against the back of the front door and things were quickly getting out of control when Jack suddenly pulled away.

'Hungry?' he asked, drawing away far enough to look her in the eye.

Sam's eyes darkened at the unintentional implications of his statement. She knew what he meant, but her mind attributed a double meaning to his words, taking her places that she really hoped to go later. Sooner, if she kept her answer brief.

'Ate on the plane,' she replied before pulling him in for another deep kiss and leading him off into the house.

--

Sam awoke to a sense of wellbeing that she hadn't felt in weeks, along with some very pleasant aches. She snuggled back into the body next to her, unwilling to face the day and content to just stay in bed.

'Urgh.' Jack stirred next to her, wrapping his arm around her. 'Well, Carter, I don't need to go to the gym with you around,' he commented teasingly, poking her playfully in the side.

'Hey! Sam protested, squirming away from his hand, 'you started it, _Sir_,' placing extra emphasis on the honorific just because she knew it wound him up.

Jack shivered, 'cut it out Carter, I'm in no state for a repeat performance.' He poked her in the side again mischievously.

'Jack,' Sam squeaked, 'Stop!' But it seemed Jack was in the mood to be playful, and began an assault on her, causing her to squirm away from him in the bed, giggling.

He finally stopped when she was inches from falling off the end of the bed, lying diagonally with her feet off the side. As she caught her breath, Jack jumped energetically out of bed and clapped his hands boyishly.

'So,' he said, 'breakfast?' He ignored the mock glare she sent his way.

'No,' Sam replied coolly,' 'shower.' She got up off the bed and made her way towards the bathroom.

'Excellent,' Jack responded, following her swiftly.

--

Sam and Jack sat down at the table together, a huge stack of pancakes between them. They caught up on their news and exchanged playful banter, occasionally stealing a bite of each other's food. Jack leant backwards in his chair in satisfaction, glad for their time together. Hopefully they'd let him retire soon, and then this sort of thing could happen a lot more often.

Towards the end of their breakfast, Jack led the conversation to the reason Sam was in Washington. And like a bandaid, he figured the sooner the better. Even though things were great between them, there was still an underlying tension. He knew she was stressing over something relatively unimportant. It's not like that Jack was him, or that Jack had any bearing on his life. Even he knew that. Sam was over thinking again.

So he stopped talking and just looked at her. They were better at communicating with their eyes anyway, from all those years in the field, all those years of hidden emotions and strict regulations.

Sam held his eyes for several minutes in silence. Her ever-so-slightly desperate blue eyes stayed riveted to his warm brown ones. She read the calm determination in his face, and closed them briefly and sighed.

'Let's go into the lounge,' she said.

--

'I didn't ask about you straight away,' she said. 'At first I asked about the rest of SG1 and when there was no one around at the SGC, I couldn't bear the thought of asking about you. I didn't want to hear that you were MIA, in prison or even happily married. I couldn't be sure how I would react.'

Sam sighed and rested her head on Jack's shoulder, both sitting together on the sofa. 'So I waited a few days until I had access to a computer and checked the mission reports. You weren't there at all, until I went right back to the start of it all, to the original Abydos mission. That's where everything changed. You sent the team back through while you stayed behind to detonate the bomb. You killed Ra in his ship, but you were on board with the bomb.'

She shivered and burrowed slightly into Jack's shoulder and he put his arm around her. He was silent, processing her words. He was dead. It was to be expected, he supposed. It was almost a miracle that he'd lived as long as he had in this universe. Had he been dead in all the parallel universes they'd encountered? He thought so. The idea that he was living on borrowed time made him all the more determined to make the most of his life, for whatever amount of time he had left.

But Sam was clearly upset at the thought of his death in that alternate universe, even though it wasn't him. He needed a distraction.

'Hey,' he nudged her shoulder lightly, 'if I was dead, who convinced Teal'c to defect? I mean, I was pretty crucial to that whole thing.' He passed quickly over his own fate in that universe, affecting a blasé attitude. He'd had years to come to terms with his various alternates' fates anyway.

Sam smiled lightly at his tone, as well as his affected self assurance of his indispensability. 'Apparently you're not as crucial as you thought. Or that universe's Teal'c was different, which is highly likely. He defected all by himself, without any encouragement from the SG team that went to Chulak.'

'Huh,' was Jack's only reply. He was a little hurt that he was that dispensable, even it was an alternate reality and wasn't really him and therefore wasn't relevant. These things always made his head ache.

'And you were married to McKay!' Jack thought that this was hilarious, and didn't bother to restrain his laughter.

'Hey!' Sam elbowed him in the ribs, none too lightly. It wasn't really me! I would never willingly go anywhere near McKay,' she exclaimed. 'Urgh. The way he looked at me when I was in the Pegasus Galaxy.' She shuddered. 'That's just wrong.'

'Exactly,' Jack replied. 'So don't get hung up on my alternate's death. You never knew him, he never knew you. He's not me.' He looked her in the eyes.

'I know,' said Sam. 'I shouldn't let it get to me. I know he's not you.' She gave him a genuine smile.

'Great,' answered Jack, leaning towards her and pecking her on the lips. 'Now that all that's out of the way: do you want to go out for lunch later today?'

Sam eyed him speculatively. 'No,' she replied, leaning towards him and deepening the kiss, then pulling back and snuggling further into his side. 'Let's stay in.'

--

After an extremely relaxing weekend together, during which neither of them ventured outside, Monday arrived much too soon for Jack and Sam. As the meeting at the White House wasn't until 10 o'clock, Jack didn't go into the office in the morning, instead sleeping in.

Waking up, Jack buried his head under his pillow with a groan. Next to him, he heard Sam laugh.

'Cut it out Carter, we're all not as young and fit as you are,' he griped. 'You can't expect me to stay up half the night and then greet the workday with a smile.'

'Are you saying you're not fit, Jack?' Sam asked cheekily, 'you seemed fine to me.' She poked him playfully in his stomach, 'though since you've taken the desk job you have put on a few pounds.'

He stuck his head out from under the pillow and glared blearily at her. Her affectionate smile took away the slight twinge the words gave his self esteem.

'You stick around and I might manage to burn it off,' he replied. 'Either that or kill me, anyway.'

'You can handle it Jack,' Sam answered teasingly. 'You're not quite over the hill yet.'

'Urgh. What did I do to deserve you?' Jack asked jokingly, almost making the normally affectionate words into a complaint.

'Oh, lots of things,' Sam replied nonchalantly, kissing him on the forehead. 'Time to get up,' she said, sitting up herself and punctuating her comment with another poke to his midriff, beginning to move out of reach.

Jack's hand shot out, his lightning quick reflexes remaining. 'Oh, I'm sure we've got time yet,' he commented casually, pulling Sam back towards him gently. 'It's only the President.'

--

Jack and Sam arrived on time to the meeting in the Oval Office, looking none the worse for wear. The Joint Chiefs were there, as were Colonel Davis as Pentagon liaison, several presidential aides and a handful of scientific advisors.

Sam outlined her experience in the parallel universe, and the repercussions of revealing the Stargate program to the public. She spoke for 15 minutes without interruption or pause, at which time questions were posed by the others present.

The President spoke first. 'Colonel, you said you asked about your team in the initial discussion with the alternate Lorne. Did you ask about anyone else? It strikes me as odd that you would omit someone like General O'Neill and in fact you haven't mentioned him at all.'

'That's because he wasn't there sir,' Sam replied calmly. 'I didn't ask about him initially because I thought it would be most useful to enquire after my team, and if the universes were very similar, he wouldn't have been at the SGC anyway. I couldn't see them allowing me access to a phone to make a quick phone call to the Pentagon.'

At that, Jack smiled. It seemed his sarcastic nature was rubbing off on her, even while talking to the President. Of course she was still respectful, but that was just Carter. He thought it would take a lifetime of years for that to rub off on her. He definitely liked the thought.

'As for the fate of the General,' Sam continued, 'I found out later while going through the old mission reports that he didn't return from the original Abydos mission. He detonated the bomb manually on board Ra's ship.'

Sam couldn't look at Jack while she spoke, knowing that if she did, her professional façade would crack. Even though she accepted Jack's reasoning regarding his alternate self, a tiny part of her still cringed at the thought of his death. So she kept her eyes focussed on the President, concentrating on the task at hand, that of reporting her findings.

'But Doctor Jackson and the rest of the original team survived?' Queried one of the Joint Chiefs.

'Yes sir,' Sam answered. 'The General, or rather the Colonel, ordered everyone else back through the Gate. 'Daniel still stayed behind married to Sha're and the Stargate was not destroyed. It seemed that Apophis still came through the Earth Stargate, beginning the chain of events that lead to the reestablishment of the Stargate Program.'

'Colonel Carter,' one of the scientists spoke up, 'were you able to ascertain the point of divergence between the two realities?'

Sam took a slight breath. 'As far as I could tell, the two realities were remarkable similar, identical in fact until extremely recently. I investigated as deeply as I could and I came to the conclusion that General O'Neill's death was in fact the point of convergence.'

At this, Jack looked surprised. Sam hadn't told him this little fact. He grinned smugly and puffed up slightly.

Are you telling me Colonel,' the President spoke up, 'that Jack is the reason I'm the President?' He looked partly disbelieving, partly shocked.

Sam and Jack shared a brief look, each recalling all the times they had thwarted Kinsey in his efforts for power.

'Well Sir,' Jack spoke up, 'that's actually not as far-fetched as it sounds.'

The President laughed. 'Good point. Though you do realise that you are responsible for the world not degenerating into chaos just by your very existence?'

Jack's smug grin was back. 'Yes sir.'

'Well, that also means that you won't be retiring any time soon,' the President replied with a grin, 'since you're obviously too valuable to lose.'

Jack wilted perceptibly, and Sam repressed a grin.

'Well people,' the President continued, 'I understand that we have much more to discuss, but I'm afraid I don't have the time right now. We're going to have to schedule another meeting. Colonel Carter, I'll have an aide reschedule your flight and contact you with the arrangements. I trust your accommodation won't be a problem?' The President's eyes twinkled.

Sam reddened slightly, and Jack's smug grin reasserted itself. 'No sir, that shouldn't be an issue,' she replied succinctly.

'Great,' the President clapped his hands together. 'Take some downtime, you deserve it.'

'Thank you sir,' Sam replied.

'Thanks everyone, I'll have an aide contact you with the details of our next meeting.' The President dismissed the group. 'Oh and Jack,' he added. 'A word?'

'Of course sir,' Jack replied exchanging a look with Sam. She moved with the others to wait for him outside the office.

When the door was closed, the President spoke. 'Take some time off Jack.'

'Sir?' Jack asked bemused.

'Take some time, do half days at work this week. We can't have you burning out. Go home early and spend some time with your wife. That's an order.'

Jack grinned. 'Why thank you sir. I'll duck into the office for a while this morning, then head home for the rest of the day.'

'You do that Jack. And I'm also extending an invitation to yourself and Colonel Carter to dinner at the White House on Wednesday. It's about time you were around again and I'm pretty sure we won't be able to have another meeting until Thursday at the earliest.'

'Yes sir,' Jack grimaced at the thought of the formality of a Presidential meal.

'Thanks Jack,' the President replied, shaking his hand. 'Nice to see you again.'

'Yes sir. Bye.' Jack made his way from the office. Outside Sam was waiting for him. Jack looked at her bemusedly. 'The President just ordered me to skip work,' he told her. 'Half days for the rest of the week.'

Sam grinned at him. 'How nice of the President.'

'And he asked us to have dinner with him on Wednesday.'

'Oh. Damn,' she muttered quietly.

Jack grinned. 'Oh, I dunno. Losing an evening in exchange for all those extra hours we'll have together seems like a fair trade.' He was still exhilarated at the thought of most of the week with Sam. 'I have to go into the office for a while before heading home. Want to come with?'

'Sure,' Sam replied contentedly.

They wandered together down the corridor, walking close without touching, a technique perfected over many years.

--

That afternoon and evening saw Jack and Sam half sitting, half lying on the sofa in front of the television enjoying a lazy day in. They simply lounged in silence, relishing the peace of the moment, storing the memories away inside to tide them over during the weeks to come. As they watched, Jack's hand slid its way under Sam's shirt, tracing languid patterns on the skin of her abdomen. Sam reached up and slid her hand lightly across his cheek and Jack leant into it, closing his eyes.

'I've been thinking,' he murmured in her ear.

Sam leant back enough to give him a teasing grin. 'You were?'

'Huh,' he replied, feigning hurt. 'Thanks for crushing my fragile self esteem with one look, Carter,' he pouted.

'Quit whining Jack,' Sam replied, reaching up to kiss him on the tip of his nose. 'What's your thought?'

'Retirement,' he replied succinctly.

'Again?' Sam asked with humour. 'Retirement never works out for you Jack.'

'I think it's time we made it work,' Jack replied with determination. 'The only time I feel alive is when you're around. And what happens if you get transferred somewhere further than Colorado? You won't stay at the SGC forever, you'll be promoted.'

'Jack, if I get promoted there's a chance I could end up stationed off-world anyway,' Sam said matter-of-factly. 'How would retirement help you see me more often? You wouldn't even have a legitimate excuse to visit.'

'We'd find a way around it,' Jack asserted stubbornly.

'Just like we could if you didn't retire,' Sam replied. 'Seriously Jack, they're not going to let you retire. Not yet, anyway. Try again in a few years.'

'I'm still going to talk to the President about it,' Jack declared obstinately.

'Yes dear,' Sam answered with a smile, patting him patiently on the cheek.

'Patronising woman,' Jack griped half-heartedly.

'Yup,' Sam replied calmly. 'Pizza or Chinese?'

'Hmpf,' Jack grumbled, 'why bother asking? We're going to end up having what you want anyway.' He wondered how far she was going to let him take his affected grumpiness.

'You pick dinner; I'll pick what we watch.'

'What? No,' Jack replied. 'We'll end up watching something terrible.'

No we won't,' Sam asserted, shifting so she was lying on top of him, 'I'll pick a Sci-Fi movie.' Sam schooled her face to hide her grin.

'But Saaaaam,' Jack whined. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned his face closer to hers. 'Please?' He said huskily.

Sam dislodged his hands and rolled towards the back of the sofa, where she quickly managed to give Jack a shove. Jack swiftly found himself lying on his back on the carpet, Sam lying on his chest with a smug grin on her face.

'Pizza or Chinese, Jack?' She enquired sweetly.

--

When Jack returned from work late on Tuesday morning, Sam was baking. It wasn't something she did often because she just didn't have the time, but it was nice to do on occasion.

Right now she was baking a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, as well as a big chocolate mud cake. She knew how much Jack loved cake and figured that she could leave the rest of it behind for him.

She'd actually only stated baking again recently. It was something she hadn't done since her mother died, until recently a painful reminder of the losses in her life. She couldn't pinpoint the exact time she'd decided to begin baking again, but it was after she and Jack got together. Now it was relaxing for her, as it was in her childhood, and brought back all the good memories of her mother rather than just the moment she found out about her death.

The cake was cooking and Sam was just taking the first tray of biscuits out of the oven when she heard Jack come in the front door. She picked up a spatula and started lifting the biscuits onto a rack to cool, hearing him come down the hall and pause in the doorway to the kitchen.

Jack leant carelessly against the doorframe in his dress blues, watching in silence. He knew that Sam was aware of his presence, but just enjoyed witnessing the rare sight of her domesticity. She was dressed in a skirt and blouse, wearing an apron over the top. There were streaks of flour down her apron and even one across her cheek. Jack grinned. She was such a messy cook. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist underneath her apron, placing his chin on her shoulder.

'Whatcha doin'?' He asked, kissing her behind the ear.

'Baking you a cake,' Sam replied, leaning into him.

'Yum,' he said, reaching out and snagging a cookie. 'When will it be ready?'

Not for a while yet. It's got to finish baking, and then it needs to cool before I can ice it,' Sam answered.

'Oh well,' Jack replied before cramming the entire cookie into his mouth before reaching for the ties of Sam's apron. He let it drop to the floor before spinning her around to face him and pulling her into his arms.

'I'm sure we can think of something to do in the meantime,' he said with a roguish smirk.

--

Sam woke up on Wednesday morning, curled in Jack's arms, and realised something.

'Jack,' she said, poking him lightly in the side.

'Wha?' He answered groggily.

'I don't have anything to wear tonight,' she replied.

'Oh yeah,' Jack sat up to clear his head of sleep. 'Hang on a sec.'

Sam watched in mild confusion as Jack got out of bed and stumbled drowsily towards the front door. When he came back he was carrying a bag.

'Got you this yesterday,' he said, dropping the bag next to her on the bed before moving around the room to get ready for the day.

Sam looked into the bag and lifted out a deep blue, knee-length dress.

'Oh wow,' she breathed. 'Jack, that's beautiful.' She stood up in front of the mirror, holding the dress in front of her, admiring it.

'I didn't get you any accessories or anything, because I figured that if you needed them you'd prefer to get them yourself,' Jack said from the bathroom doorway.

'You considered buying me accessories?' Sam asked surprised.

'Yeah,' Jack replied with a wry grin, 'not exactly my thing is it.'

'Well no,' Sam said, 'but there's always a first time.' She went over to him and kissed him on the cheek. 'Thank you Jack.'

Jack took advantage of her proximity to kiss her on the lips. 'Think nothing of it,' he replied with a wry grin.

Sam smiled and went back to staring at the mirror, while Jack headed into the bathroom to take a shower.

--

Later than day Sam was standing in front of the mirror, examining her appearance. She thought that she was presentable enough for dinner at the White House. The dress Jack had bought her really was gorgeous, the flowing fabric moulding flatteringly to her body and falling delicately from her waist to her knees. Strappy heels along with tasteful jewellery and makeup completed the outfit.

'Wow.' Sam turned to see Jack standing in the doorway, a slightly stunned look on his face.

'You like?' Sam asked with a smile, twirling lightly on the spot, skirt fanning out slightly.

'Hell yeah,' Jack replied fervently. 'Let's skip the meal and move right on to the dessert,' he said with a roguish wink.

'Jack,' Sam reprimanded, her bright smile totally ruining the effect of her reproof. She walked over to him, her heels making their height almost equal. Placing her head close to his she whispered conspiratorially in his ear, 'we don't have time anyway. The limo will be here in a sec.' She cheekily nipped at the shell of his ear.

'Carter!' Jack yelped.

'Yes sir?' Sam replied saucily, sauntering towards the front of the house.

'Oh you are so paying for that later,' Jack muttered, adjusting his uniform jacket.

'Looking forward to it sir,' Sam daringly replied.

--

Dinner was boring. The conversation was dull and Jack was so sick of that idiot politician trying to hit on his wife. Next time he might ask Carter whether they could be introduced as 'General and Mrs. O'Neill' or 'General and Colonel O'Neill.' Or better yet, not go to any more of these things at all.

Dinner had passed in a haze of boredom and mind-numbingly painful conversation. Jack had been sitting between Sam and the First Lady, while some Senator was sitting on the other side of Sam. Said Senator had then proceeded to unsubtly attempt to charm Carter into his bed. Or so it seemed to Jack. He'd sat patiently through all four courses and made polite conversation with those around him, except for Sam who'd been monopolised by that creep. God, he hated politicians. But he had learned some things during his time in Washington. As much as he'd love to punch that guy's lights out, he refrained.

Sam occasionally glanced longingly at him, desiring nothing more than to go home and spend their last evening together in peace and (maybe) quiet. Her flight was leaving tomorrow afternoon, with the meeting with the President scheduled for the morning. God knew when they'd be able to see each other face to face again.

So after dinner, as soon as she was possibly able, Sam made her way to where Jack was standing. She placed her arm through his and whispered in his ear.

'So General, want to blow this Popsicle stand?'

'Oh, yeahsureyabetcha,' Jack murmured back, 'you have no idea.'

'Oh, I think I do,' Sam replied wryly, glancing with veiled disgust towards the Senator, who was now chatting to the First Lady.

Sam leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips before taking his hand and leading him towards the President in order to make their excuses and depart.

--

Sam and Jack woke to the alarm clock the next morning. Jack groaned loudly before beating the alarm clock into submission.

'Screw it,' he growled, 'we're not movin'.'

Sam snuggled sleepily into his side. 'Agreed,' she murmured. Cracking an eye open, she smiled drowsily at him. 'Though you know, it _is_ all your fault we're so tired. And we do have a meeting with the President this morning.'

'Screw it,' Jack repeated mutinously. 'It's our last morning together in God knows how long, and he won't let me retire.'

Sam chuckled sleepily. 'You asked him? I told you he wouldn't let you.'

'Yes well, you _are_ a genius,' Jack said, placing languid kisses along her collarbone and up her neck.

'Jack,' Sam moaned, 'we'll be late.'

'Last time in bed together Carter,' Jack replied. 'For weeks.'

'Good point,' Sam gasped, as Jack found a particularly sensitive spot.

'And anyway, we can shower together to save time.' He arranged his face into an innocent expression.

Sam fixed him with a shrewd look. 'Because of course that's going to _save_ time,' she replied sarcastically.

--

Jack sat silently through the meeting, barely paying attention to his surroundings, unless Sam was speaking. Though he was grateful to the President for allowing him almost an entire week with Sam, he was still a little annoyed with his refusal to allow him to retire. Not that he'd realistically expected it to happen anyway. But still, he'd hoped.

Jack smiled. He couldn't really complain when he had someone like Sam to come home to. Well, it was more a case of coming home to her in the metaphorical sense rather than in the literal sense. But still. If someone had told him he would have a life like this a few years ago, he wouldn't have believed him. Having Sam in his life really was beyond his wildest dreams.

And he was turning into a sap. Jack forced his attention back to the meeting, which was coming to an end. Luckily he hadn't been called upon to make any observations. The meeting was dismissed and Jack and Sam made their way out of the Oval Office. It was about 1pm now, and Sam's flight was departing in a couple of hours. They'd have time for a quick lunch before driving to the airport.

They made light-hearted conversation over lunch, neither one of them wishing to dwell on Sam's departure. They both new it was necessary and inevitable. They had a week's worth of happy memories stored away.

'Oh,' Jack said suddenly as they were walking to the car, 'apparently you missed a hostage situation on that standard recon you missed. And SG1 weren't the hostages.' He kept his voice low from habit and spoke right into her ear, so that no one would overhear them.

'I did?' Sam asked. 'Huh. Wonder what Daniel thought of that one?' She smiled at the thought of Daniel's reaction.

'Oh, I daresay you'll find out in great detail,' Jack replied wryly as they got into the car.

Sam smiled and kissed him.

--

At the airport Sam and Jack stood together in silence, savouring each other's presence. As Sam's flight was called, Sam turned to Jack and kissed him firmly on the lips, despite the public setting and the fact that they were both in their dress blues.

'I'll see you in a few weeks,' she murmured as she pulled back. 'This time it's your turn to visit me.'

'Oh, don't worry,' Jack replied with a cocky grin. 'I'll persuade the President to give me time off. I'm sure he owes me a few favours, and he did just refuse my request for retirement.' He kissed her on the nose.

Sam smiled. 'I love you Jack,' she said as she picked up her bag. She made her way towards the departure point still smiling. They'd see each other again soon. And he'd be sure to call her tonight.

She really did love her life.

--

A/N: Well, this is slightly longer than what I normally write, and I'm not sure if I lost the plot halfway through. It's also the first thing that I've written since going back to full time study and I think it shows. It's totally unplanned (since when do I plan?), except for a few notes scribbled during a lecture of Australian Foreign Policy, when I was brainstorming what to do with the second part, because of course it needed to contain a lot of sap without being total nonsense (I hope that happened). So tell me what you think, and whether I should stick to slightly shorter stories.


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